Tech Tuesday

     So are you lucky enough to have an interactive white board?  I know I am.  We have the smart board brand of white boards so even though I will refer to any, I usually call it a smart board.
     I was really thanking my lucky stars for it today.  We ended up having a delayed early dismissal due to a gas leak in the area.  Only one way in and out of our school and the leak was on that road.  So, utilized downloaded videos from Discovery Education ( aka United Streaming) and we "rode" the Magic School Bus for a while until the road was reopened. 
     One of my favorite activities to use the smart board with my kiddos is called Wow Me Wednesday.  You can do this activity any day of the week I just chose Wed.  ( It used to be Wikki Wed when I was "old school" and used wikki sticks).  We always start our morning with a message on the smart board.  But on Wednesdays before I read it to/with the class, I call on students to identify letters or words that they recognize.  They use the pens to circle the letter/ word and then read it to me.  I keep a chart of who is chosen when and what they identified.  I do also keep track of mistakes and how many attempts it took- no more than 3 due to time.  It is amazing how much they pick up in a year.  I choose the first 5 students and our class mascot, Booksie, chooses the other 5 students.
Here is an example of what the board looks like when we are finished:

     Other ways I use the board is to graph the weather, introduce websites, use the document camera, introduce the song books for Dr. Jean song and I love the programable dice on their software.  There are loads of free files already made for each grade level in many subject areas at the Smart Board Exchange site.  I know there is a site for Promethean Boards as well.  I have picked up a file on apple sets, attendance pages, rhyming matches and many many more.  Happy Hunting.
     What do you like to do with your Smart board?
Mrs. B